Today's Baby Craft is Brought to You by the Letter "J"

While perusing the internet looking for more ideas I came across a blog ( http://twelvecraftstillchristmas.blogspot.com/ ) I think has a lot of useful ideas! Today I decided to make one and am pleased with my prototype.

Now I think I want to make it bigger and then put crinkly stuff in it and maybe position the tags a little differently but I'm happy as far as how it turned out with just winging it. I believe the lady who's idea I snitched worked with a larger size and I like that better and she had more tags.

The past week has seen me send my first born, Jordayn, off to her own apartment two hours away. I didn't cry but it has been very different around here without her. I miss her chatter and her laughter and the mom/daughter time we used to sneak in from the guys. I'm glad for her though and I hope this new chapter in her life is a life lesson on her way to adulthood. As we were getting things packed for her to go I came across my very first quilt top I worked on when I was taking care of my dad through his cancer treatment. I didn't have a machine then so it's hand sewn and I never finished it. Jordayn asked if she could have it so I thought I would put a back on it quickly and wanted it to be fun so I bought some rainbow stripped fleece. At a later time I'll do a proper backing but wanted her to have something special.

Tuesday starts school for my son, Kyle, as he starts his first year in high school. He's ready to go back I think so that he can be around his friends again. I thought he'd be nervous but that doesn't seem to be the case just yet. Here's hoping he stays that way!

I'm hoping to make sure I post here more often and not put so much time in between. Things keep getting hectic but I need to make myself make time.

Taggies, wipes and bibs!

The last few days have been busy and I've been working on a few things. Today was our sewing 'club' and although I didn't actually sew anything I did cut my spools of ribbons into 5" and 4" strips and bag them up to make transporting them and making taggie blankets, blocks and balls easier. I also pieced together my reusable baby wipes I had decided to try. When I got home tonight I actually sewed the wipes together and took photos and am now ready to post on what I've been working on. The bibs I made have 100% cotton on one side and terry cloth on the other. I snitched one of Jadon's bibs and traced it onto paper to make a pattern. Here he is enjoying it!

Here are the other two I made. I love the owl!

So where I cut the head out the shape that came out of it was sort of whale like or tear drop. I decided they were the perfect size for some reusable wipes for babies or children. The top is soft flannel and the bottom is terry cloth. They are the perfect size for wiping dirty faces, runny noses, scrapped knees and everything in between. Throw them in the wash and reuse!

Last but not least are the five taggie blankets I made for my order. She chose the polka dots and the weiner dog blankets! I'll put the other three up for sale or save for our craft table this fall.

Busy, busy, busy!

I have been working on some projects but haven't gotten photos of the finished projects yet. Tomorrow I should be able to get the up. Monday started our first sewing get together. I have recently gotten back in with a couple of friends from Middle School, Krista and Missy. Krista was going to Missy's house to get help with a quilt she's working on for her daughter who is heading off to college soon and invited me to go along. We had a really great time and Missy had found me a project to work on for next Monday. We have decided to meet each Monday and sew, bounce ideas off one another and just chit chat.

Wednesday was Jadon Day and I spent 4 hour cuddling and coo'ing with my favorite little man. I love to see how he's grown and what new things he's doing each week when I go. He was the happy recipient of one of my projects and he looked darn cute in it as well.

Today I took my step-dad to the doctor's for his 6 week check up. He has severe COPD and is monitored heavily. The smallest lung infection can send him into a dangerous downward spiral. Things are good today though with just a new script for allergy meds. Since I've been home I've been trying to finish up the order I have for taggie blankets. She ordered two but I've made 5 so she has a choice since she didn't specify exactly what she wanted. Then I need to get working on the Americana quilt order that I have.

Shopping!

Well, I do not have any sewing to report as I have been on a 3 day shopping trip with my mom and 14 year old son for school clothes. My mom loves to take the kids and I away to do this but this was the first year my daughter didn't go as she 18 now and married and not in school. We had an amazing time shopping, eating, goofing around and laughing. We really got some great bargains with the back to school sales and I printed off quite a few store coupons. I don't mind going through the line twice to use two coupons for $10 off from $50 to get the most for my money. We also hit up Sam's Club as this weekend they were having a free weekend where you can go in and shop without a membership and there was no buyer's premium! I did find we saved quite a bit on certain things but you really have to think about sales and coupons. We are now contemplating getting a membership to shop more often.

All the dogs missed me terrible and we all took a nap when I got home. Happiness is snuggled up with your 4 lovelies in bed. My little Loki is my baby and missed me the most. He sulked a bit behind the couch when I first came home but since I fished him out he's plastered to my side and won't leave me. Here he is in all his cuteness.

First Baby Block and Blanket Made

Last night I finally sat down and made a simple baby block. I used the tutorial from here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmummy/sets/72157604381990885/

I'm not sure how I go about giving credit through my blog to people but wanted to make sure I do. Her tutorial was very easy to read and understand which is what I need! I sneaked a peek at her other stuff and it's absolutely divine. So here's a photo of my block!

Next project I finished today was a quilt that I had started a few years ago. It's probably been 4 years since I hand sewed the blocks in strips and that was as far as I got. Last weekend at a church yard sale I found a brand new blanket in the bag that was a burgundy fleece and it had the words Freedom is not Free stitched on the corner. This I thought would be a perfect backing for my blanket since it was made with patriotic blocks of fabric. This morning I used my lovely sewing machine to put the strips together then cut the sides down to match the width of the fleece blanket and cropped the bottom of the fleece blanket to the length of the quilt top. Then I put them together and voila! I think it came out pretty good for my first blanket.

Now I only messed up my strips once so that the same squares were adjacent so I just need to pay more attention when I'm piecing together. Also my words weren't always going the right direction but as I said, I'm learning as I go. This item was donated to an organization that gives blankets to the needy. I'm hoping it goes perhaps to a vet in a wheelchair as it's a little smaller so would make a nice lap blanket.

I have an order for two taggie blankets for a girl so I started one today. I'm going to make a few of them so she can have a choice. It'll be good practice for me as well.

New Adventures

I decided to start a blog tonight as my sewing mania is taking off. I eat, sleep and dream sewing, fabric, baby items to sew and everything in between.

About 2 1/2 years ago I asked my husband to buy me a sewing machine but I never took it out of the box until about a month ago. Since then I've googled beginner sewing patterns to make baby items and found lots of useful information and many really great sewig blogs that I've gotten fabulous ideas from.

My own children are grown or mostly grown but my newest love is my cousin's baby who lost his mommy at the age of 5 months. Since then I have made sure to be a part of his life every week and making things for him makes me feel really great. I suffer from an auto immune disease called Sarcoidosis that has me unable to work at this time. My case is chronic and I have been going through treatment for over two years now with no success of remission but I keep plugging away and visiting with baby Jadon who is now 8 months old brightens my week and gives me something to look forward to each week.

So now I shall share my sewing adventures with you and maybe I will be able to pass on some of the great ideas I've found from other's blogs. I'm sure my day to day life will mingle in my blog as well and it's rarely a dull momet around here.